Oxfordshire Weekend

Been a great summer weekend in Oxfordshire. Got some birding time in at Ickford Bridges HERE and a superb evening at Otmoor RSPB HERE. Highlights included Glossy Ibis, Common Crane, Marsh Harriers, Bitterns, Barn Owl, Garganey, Black-tailed Godwit, drumming Snipe and displaying waders at Otmoor and great to see the local Curlews too near the river. 

Been good for moth trapping too with a moth lifer- Alder Moth.  The Old Vicarage pan-species list is now 802 with the Alder moth and also a couple of new plants. Need to do another bio-blitz in the garden because presumably still a lot of summer species to find here. 

 

Barn Owl hunting over Otmoor 

Eclipse male and female Garganey- the transitional male was interesting and I briefly even considered Blue-winged Teal at one point but amongst many other features the white on the trailing edge of the speculum is too broad (below). 

Common Tern at Otmoor from second screen- I counted 17 here utilising the tern raft

Curlew in a nearby grazing meadow- wonderful to see! 

A good showing of Hawk-moths this weekend with Lime, Privet and Poplar (above) and also Elephant and Small Elephant 

Lime (above) and Privet Hawk-moth (below) 

Alder Moth- star of the weekend 

Grey-streaked Diamond-back Moth, Plutella porrectella- always good to see. Also quite a few standard migrant Diamond-back moths this weekend 

A few Pale Prominets. Also Iron, Pebble and Lesser Swallow Prominent

Scalloped Hazel is a garden rarity

I went for Spruce Carpet on this one 

I went for Cork Moth on this micro

I went for Daisy Bent-wing Bucculatrix nigricomella on this one . If the county recorder has this it will be a little lifer. 

Triple-spot Dwarf Elachista maculicerusella

A bit of variation in Coronets 

Had this sexton beetle (complete with mite) which I need to identify. Might be another pan-species tick here. Looks like could be Black Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus humator HERE. 

Also found this on the mites : Adults will often be found carrying phoretic mites ( Gamasidae, especially Gamasus crassipes L.) which are not parasitic but leave the beetle and enter host material where they kill off eggs and small larvae of diptera etc. which would otherwise compete with the beetle for food. HERE.

There was even a bit of herping on offer this weekend with two Common Toads (found when clearing out the old inflatable pool) and a Grass Snake at Otmoor

Even in the grazing marshes locally by the river there is Ragged Robin and Cuckoo-flowers.

Two new plants for the garden list (according to my plant id app) , Rough Hawksbeard (above) and Hedge Mustard (below) 

Got confronted by this gang of youths while exploring round Ickford Bridges

All good on the mini-farm - put the pumpkins in this weekend and tidied things up 

Quite a few dragonflies and damselflies about now- at least 200 Banded Demosielle along a small stretch of the river Thame